“No. In fact, I’d like to avoid that if possible. I’ve come for my…wife. I heard she stayed here with you.” When she quirked a brow, he continued. “Arleigh. Is she here?”
“Indeed, the woman doth reside with me,” Cullen answered. “She hath no memory of thee or anything else in her life. I was told her husband hath gone to the grave.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Ryder said, “although it was a close call.”
He raised his shirt to display the scar that ripped across his chest. She came closer and touched the raised flesh where the saber had sliced through him.
“How is it thou survived such a wound? ’Tis very deep, and it did strike the lung.”
“The luck of the Irish, I guess,” Ryder said. “Look, to be honest here, Mrs. Flynn, I want to get my wife and get out before I have to kill your husband. I don’t have a problem with killing him but, for some reason, the Trinity, my sisters, is against the idea, and I don’t want to stir up more trouble than the world can handle. I don’t want to change fate or anything.”
“’Tis not possible to change fate,” Cullen Flynn said. “Why wouldst thou think that possible?”
He did not want to get into a philosophical discussion with the woman, no matter how intelligent she seemed. When he got home, he might have to reevaluate the general opinion of women throughout history, and the town librarian would be the place to start. He needed to have a conversation with Cullen Cargill.
Arleigh suddenly appeared on the stone staircase, wearing a dress of flowing violet-colored fabric. A tiny circlet of gold held her hair away from her face. She had never looked more beautiful. His little faery princess fit perfectly in this world. The lady of the house had obviously been taking very good care of her. She glowed with good health and vitality, and he had seen little of it in the past few days. Glowed?
“Holy Christ,” he breathed. “Look at her.”
“She is beautiful,” Cullen Flynn said. “My lord hast become quite enamored of her. Thou may find it necessary to slay him and fulfill thy desire. I fear he wilt not let thee have her.”
Ryder dragged his stare away from Arleigh and met Lady Cardew’s glance.
“You want me to kill your husband?”
“Thou wouldst be providing a great favor,” she said. “I can not do it, and I have tried the wiles of the heart, but he thrives. I cannot understand why.”
Ryder grabbed the woman’s arm and shook her. Lady Cardew met his glance bravely, and a smile skimmed her face.
He flung his arm in the direction of Arleigh. “Look at her! What have you done?”
She seemed surprised for a moment and simply stared at him. Finally she sighed. “I have invoked the spirit of the Leanan sidhe. The spirit was tightly bound and struggling for survival. It hath not long to live, but I have used it to my advantage. I have powers of mine own, not unlike thine own sisters.”
“Jesus freaking Christ, Cullen! Do we have to do this all over again?”
“’Tis not possible to change fate,” Cullen said.
Ryder dropped her arm in disgust. He stomped across the distance that separated him from Arleigh and reached for her hand. Arleigh pulled back.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re getting the hell out of here.”
“Who art thou?” she asked, glancing at Lady Cardew. “I live here. I belong to her.”
“I don’t have time for this. You’re my wife. I’m your husband. Accept it. You’re coming with me. Let’s not make it like the last time. I turned into a walking bruise.”
“I know him not! Please, lady, help me!”
He tugged her across the stone floor, and she pulled against his arm, her hair flying around her shoulders as she tried to get back up the stairs. Ryder hauled her back down and dragged her across the chamber. He had almost made it to the door when he heard the sound of his name. He turned slowly, his arm clasped around Arleigh’s waist to hold her still, and Flynn entered the chamber from one of the dark hallways.
It seemed impossible, but the man was better looking as a human. He seemed a little pale, but his eyes were wells of emotion, flashing now with anger. His clothes hugged him tightly and showed every muscle of his body. His dark hair hung long and loose around his shoulders, and a full beard covered his face. This was a warrior, a tough man living in a hard world, and he had the body to prove it. If he had fallen under the spell of the Leanan sidhe, he appeared to be holding up well. He had to have incredible will.
“I had hoped you were dead,” Flynn said. “Will I never be rid of you?”
“What can I say?” Ryder said. “I’m like a bad penny. I keep turning up.”
“A bad penny?”
“Not invented yet,” Ryder said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“So you talked the witches into following me?”
“Actually, I begged to come. I missed you.”
Flynn smiled. “We do have some unfinished business.”
“I’m all for tying up the loose ends,” Ryder said. “We might be able to meet on more equal ground here. I heard a rumor you might be human now.”
“Aye, well, humanity does have its drawbacks. But it also has its strengths. Do you have any idea how powerful I am here?”
“Yeah, I’m getting that,” Ryder said. “The 13th century agrees with you. If I didn’t know you better, I might even put you in the same league with Robin Hood. You certainly look the part. But of course I know better. Been raping and pillaging much since you’ve been home?”
Flynn laughed. “I don’t need to rape and pillage, Kendall. I own everything you have seen.”
“You don’t own me,” Ryder said, “or Arleigh. I’m also thinking you don’t own her.”
He cocked his head toward Cullen Flynn. His glance ticked between the husband and wife, and a grimace crossed Flynn’s face. He had obviously hit a nerve.
“Are you going to let us leave without a hassle, or do we have to fight? Frankly, it’s been a long ride here, and I’m hot, tired, and a little cranky. I also see the little beauty here doesn’t remember me. That’s going to be a pain in my ass. But if you insist on fighting, I did bring a weapon this time.”
He touched the hilt of the sword that hung at his waist. Arleigh struggled in his grip, but he held on to her. Cullen Flynn stepped forward. She looked at Ryder for a long moment, struggling with a decision, but finally she sighed.
“Let them leave, Cameron,” she said. “He hast come to collect his wife. She is rightfully his.”
“I own her,” Flynn said. “I will keep her.”
Flynn crossed his arms and stared hard at Ryder then his glance darted to Arleigh, following the curves of her body. A fire lit within his eyes, and Ryder knew Flynn was struggling with the impulse to grab at her. He had seen that look before in Arleigh’s eyes, but Flynn seemed to have very good control. He had not fallen under the spell so completely he had lost himself. Not yet, anyway. Ryder thought Flynn didn’t have much time, but so far, he was still Cameron Flynn.
“Look, Flynn,” Ryder said. “Don’t you know what’s happening here?”
Flynn shook his head, his shaggy hair obscuring most of his face, but his eyes locked on Arleigh, and she battered Ryder’s shins with quick kicks.
“You and I aren’t friends,” Ryder said, “but that doesn’t mean we have to kill each other. You’re under an enchantment, Flynn. Remember what that means? You’ve done it lots of times. It’s being done to you now. Somehow, the Leanan sidhe spirit has gotten back into Arleigh. I don’t know how exactly, but there’s going to be hell to pay when I find out.”
He glanced at Cullen, who smiled.
“Enchantment?” Flynn asked. His gaze settled on Arleigh’s face. She smiled at him even as she punched her elbow into Ryder’s side. “No, ’tis love. I cannot get her out of my head.”
“She won’t leave your head, Flynn,” Ryder said. “Not until you’re dead. Are you going to take their shit? Do you want to die for a woman?”
Flynn’s
face snapped toward him. “No, not again. Get out. Take her, and get out.” He turned and stormed from the room.
Ryder breathed a sigh of relief. He allowed Arleigh to hug Cullen Flynn then he snatched her away and headed toward the courtyard. Once again, his ears were tormented by curses and screaming, and his body paid the price. He ignored the pain and bundled her onto the horse in front of him. It would be a long hot ride back to the Caindale estate.
* * * *
Ryder suffered three days of torment. He thought he might have a cracked rib from a powerful elbow jab. A large bruise bloomed on his jaw from a well-aimed punch, and once again, Arleigh seemed determined he spend his life sterile. He thought several times of dumping her along the random path and letting her find her way back to Cardew. Flynn could have her. He had never put up with this much from any woman in his life, not his sisters, not his lovers.
When her tactic of physical abuse didn’t work on him, she tried a different tact altogether. She began to use her feminine wiles on him. He didn’t know how much of a line existed between Arleigh and the Leanan sidhe spirit, but he wasn’t falling for any of it. She had so thoroughly pissed him off with the sucker punch, that each time she batted her eyes, offered him a coquettish smile, or ran her hands over his body, he snapped and snarled at her like a rabid dog. A look of sheer disbelief would cross her face, and she would begin to rail at him once again.
They met several people along the journey, but no one dared to interfere with him. He rode upon a horse with the Caindale arms, had dressed in Caindale’s clothes, and wore a sword. Ryder thought the sword pretty much said it all. Stay away from me. I have more. I know more. I am better than you are. He didn’t like it, but it seemed to be the truth of the place.
The laws in this place had nothing to do with justice and everything to do with sheer power and force. In his right mind, he would have wondered why people wouldn’t offer aid to a woman clearly being taken against her will, but he wasn’t in his right mind. He thought if anyone dared to interfere with him, there would be some serious hell to pay for their good Samaritanism.
He could deal with Arleigh during the daylight hours. She would have periods in which she would fight, try to knock him from the horse, use every part of her body as a weapon. But in the heat, she would tire quickly, and then she would doze off into a fitful sleep. Her body would lay against him, damp and hot, and though uncomfortable, he would cradle her and continue to move across the parched landscape under the grueling sun.
When night fell and exhaustion had set in, he pulled out a small bottle and dropped a splash of liquid into her cup of water. Fallon had prepared a light sleeping potion, and he used it only because he needed to sleep himself. He could not take the chance she would disappear during the night. He hadn’t come four hundred years to lose her while he slept. The first night she saw him spiking the water, and she wouldn’t drink. Though it went against everything he believed in, he’d simply held her and forced it down her throat. She was a feisty little thing, but his strength prevailed. The next night, she drank without protest.
They finally reached Caindale Castle. Ryder had to carry her inside, protesting and squalling. He was thoroughly exhausted, sunburned, and his patience had run out days before. He dumped her onto a chair and told her, if she moved, he would paddle her. She smiled that Leanan sidhe smile of hers.
“If that is what thou desires,” she said.
“Believe me,” Ryder said, “nice as your ass is, Arleigh, it won’t be for pleasure.”
He stood in the main hall and bellowed their names. Fallon, Honora, and Caitlyn appeared like magic from different areas of the castle. Arleigh wasn’t a model of etiquette upon meeting the sisters. She seemed to have no memory of Fiana, Hannah, or Corliss, so she displayed no recognition when she met the first Trinity. Hell, her entire memory bank was shot.
“I don’t understand why she doesn’t recognize you,” Ryder said.
Fallon peered at Arleigh like a mysterious puzzle that defied rational thinking. Arleigh tried to spit on her.
“She was enchanted when pulled through the rift,” Fallon said. “A Ganconor’s magic hath great power.”
“She didn’t remember Flynn, either,” Ryder said.
“Odd,” Honora said.
“Very odd,” Caitlyn said.
“’Tis most perplexing,” Fallon said.
“Doth she remember any of her life before?” Honora asked.
“No,” Ryder said.
“She doth not remember thee?” Caitlyn asked. Her small face dissolved into sorrow, and her eyes filled with tears.
Fallon swept her hands through the air, hovering near Arleigh’s face. Arleigh waved her off like a plague of insects, but the air shimmered with the pale lavender emanating from the woman he loved. Fallon turned to him, distressed. A furrow appeared in her brow, and her clinical inspection of Arleigh seemed to have taken a new route.
“The spirit of the Leanan sidhe resideth within her,” Fallon said. “How did that come to be?”
“Mrs. Flynn,” Ryder said. “Or Mrs. Cullen. Or Mrs. Cargill. I don’t even know what to call her. She said she invoked the Leanan sidhe power. Can she really do such a thing?”
The three sisters exchanged glances while Ryder pushed Arleigh back into her chair. She seemed to think they weren’t paying attention to her. He gave her a look that promised a spanking. She smiled at him, but he glared harder, and she lowered her eyes.
“’Tis said,” Honora said quietly, “that Lady Cardew hails from the Seelie Court.”
“Thou should not spread rumors, Sister,” Fallon said.
“It could easily be true,” Honora said.
Ryder’s gaze shot between the sisters. “Enough. What the hell is the Seelie Court? Is she like a queen or something?”
“The Court holds the rulers of the fey,” Caitlyn said.
“Faeries?” Ryder asked. “You mean Mrs. Flynn is a faery? Is everyone but me a freaking faery?”
Honora put her hand on Ryder’s arm. “’The tale is that Lady Cardew is a changeling, given to the human realm to protect the fey, to be a guardian for the faery circles that lead to their world.”
The three women hurled questions at him like prosecuting attorneys. He ran his hands through his damp, sweaty hair. He wanted to sleep, to eat. He wanted a cold bath and some Benadryl to ease the itch of all the insect bites that covered his skin. He didn’t want to answer questions. He wanted Arleigh back.
They circled around Arleigh, inspecting every inch of her like the answers were going to be found written on her flesh. Arleigh lashed out several times, cuffing Honora on the side of the head and pulling at Caitlyn’s hair. She stood up and tried to run, but Ryder grabbed her and threw her back into the chair. She huffed and glared at him. Ryder couldn’t take another minute. He spread his arms and whistled to get their attention. All four women jerked and stared at him like he had lost his mind. He thought he might be the only sane one in the bunch.
“She isn’t some kind of magic puzzle box, ladies. I didn’t bring her here for analysis. What are we going to do about it? You’re witches! Fix it!”
Honora and Caitlyn whispered to each other, their eyes darting between Arleigh and Ryder, but Fallon tilted her head, and a small smile formed on her lips. Ryder rolled his eyes.
“What?” he demanded.
“’Tis not within our power to…what did thou say? Fix it,” Fallon said.
“What good are you, then?” Ryder asked. “I can’t keep her like this. She hates the sight of me.”
“She hast not seen thee yet,” Fallon said.
“What does that mean?” Ryder said. He couldn’t control his voice. It grew louder with each word.
“Think on it,” Fallon said. “There is something thee must do to win her back. ’Tis why Fiana sent you here.”
Ryder smacked his hands against his forehead and yelled in frustration. The shout echoed throughout the main hall, and birds flapped in the rafters overh
ead.
“Stop talking in riddles!” he yelled. “Look at me. Do I look like a man who wants to play games? I’ve got sweat pouring from every inch of my body. I probably have West Nile from all these bug bites. I haven’t had a decent meal in six days. No, make that weeks. I was practically killed a week ago, and now I think I have a broken rib. And let’s not forget I’m probably incapable of having kids in the future. Oh, yeah, that will make everyone at home very happy, since I’m the Keeper and supplying an heir has been written into my job description.”
Fallon tapped her foot against the stone floor. She was losing patience with him? God, they were all alike.
“Thou art very dense,” she said. “Take her to thy bedchamber, Ryder.”
Ryder’s eyes widened, and he glanced at each of the sisters. They were smiling at him like a child who had lost his temper.
“Oh,” he said.
“We have prepared a bath,” Honora said. “And a meal.”
“Oh,” he said again. “Well, thanks.”
“She hath the Leanan sidhe within,” Fallon said. “Thou must prove thy love is beyond the enchantment. Can thou doest that? Or shall we follow thee?”
They all smirked at him. Would there ever be a set of sisters who didn’t have an interest in his sex life?
“I think I can handle it,” he said, pulling Arleigh up from the chair. When she tried to pull away, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She screeched into his ears at the top of her lungs. “This is starting to be a bad habit.”
“Art thou sure thou needs not our help?” Caitlyn asked with a smile.
“If I need something,” Ryder said with a grin, “I’ll let you know.”
Chapter 38
Ryder really wanted to dive into the tub of cool water then fall down on the soft mattress and sleep for about a week. But sleep would have to put on hold for a little while. He had a job to do.
The Caindale sisters had turned the bedchamber into something of a honeymoon suite. The tapestries were pulled aside to allow the warm breeze to stir through the room. Candles flickered, the scent of flowers drifting in the warm air. The tub of water was crystal clear, cool to the touch, and a pile of drying cloths lay on the stone floor. There were two dressing gowns at the foot of the bed. The covers were turned down, revealing soft, clean sheets, and the pillows had been fluffed.
Carlton, Amber - Trinity Magic (Siren Publishing Romance) Page 38